Violence against abortion providers - prevalence in the US

[naita]

Maybe there isn’t any data on this, but as my google-fu has failed me I’m hoping someone could point me in the direction of survey information on how prevalent support for violence against abortion providers is in the US.
So far I’ve found that some people post support in comment threads on news articles and blogs, but that isn’t worth much to estimate how many people support such acts.

[Hail_Ants]

Realistic statistics on such an underground, emotional & volatile idea is going to be hard to come by. If you’re not an American and want the opinion of one, I can say that it is ***definitely ***on the absolute fringe of pro-life extremism. It’s nothing short of domestic terrorism.

[Disheavel]

@Hail_Ants

Realistic statistics on such an underground, emotional & volatile idea is going to be hard to come by. If you’re not an American and want the opinion of one, I can say that it is ***definitely ***on the absolute fringe of pro-life extremism. It’s nothing short of domestic terrorism.

I second this. I have an Aunt who has been arrested 50+ times for protesting at abortion clinics and many other family members who are avid protesters; however, they would never even speak to someone who would consider violence as it is so antithetical to their cause and beliefs. I honestly believe they would immediately report anyone who was going to do anything violent to the police in order to prevent such action.

I believe that the number is incredibly small so as to be effectively negligible.

[Suburban_Plankton]

It’s a common theme on Law & Order-type TV shows, but I can’t recall the last time I heard of actual physical violence against an abortion provider (though no doubt someone will be along shortly to refresh my memory).

I think that it’s a bit like commercial plane crashes, in that it’s really quite rare, but you hear about it every single time it happens.

[jayjay]

@Suburban_Plankton

I can’t recall the last time I heard of actual physical violence against an abortion provider (though no doubt someone will be along shortly to refresh my memory).

Dr. George Tiller was murdered in the vestibule of his church in 2009.

[Diceman]

@Suburban_Plankton

It’s a common theme on Law & Order-type TV shows, but I can’t recall the last time I heard of actual physical violence against an abortion provider (though no doubt someone will be along shortly to refresh my memory).

I think that it’s a bit like commercial plane crashes, in that it’s really quite rare, but you hear about it every single time it happens.

Exactly. This is one of those things that happen about 1000 times on TV for every time it happens in real life.

[anson2995]

@Suburban_Plankton

It’s a common theme on Law & Order-type TV shows, but I can’t recall the last time I heard of actual physical violence against an abortion provider (though no doubt someone will be along shortly to refresh my memory).

I think that it’s a bit like commercial plane crashes, in that it’s really quite rare, but you hear about it every single time it happens.

Violent crimes against abortion providers have dropped dramatically since legislation was passed in 1994, making those activities a federal crime, and the increased focus by the FBI which followed. This site has data on anti-abortion violence. I believe the numbers came from the FBI, although my bookmark for that data at the FBI’s website seems to be broken.

As for survey’s on how many people support violence, I suspect that very few people would acknowledge those views publicly.